Mom's Record Breaking Surgery

So, we had a little medical emergency last week. Devon and I are fine - it's my mom that was the lucky winner! And in typical "Mom Fashion", it was a doozey!! She never does anything half-way. LOL So, here's the story... My mom and I were planning a little trip to Spokane Wednesday (June 30th) for some premature baby shopping. (I know, I know... we aren't even pregnant yet. But we're just so anxious!) Anyway, I called her Wednesday morning around 8am to see what time she wanted to get on the road, and she could barely talk. I kept asking her "what's wrong?" and she couldn't get anything out except "I don't know. I have a pain in my side". She quickly got off the phone with me, saying that she couldn't wait for me to take her to the hospital - she needed to call 911. Now, for anyone who knows how tough my mom is - that's shocking. After hearing that, I realized that something was really wrong, and jumped in the truck and rushed to get to her. By the time I got to the house, an ambulance and firetruck were already there and the EMT's were working on her.
After a CAT Scan and an UltraSound at the ER, we discovered that the pain was coming from an enlarged Ovary. At that point, the Dr said it looked to be 15cm wide (a normal sized Ovary is 2 cm), and that he would be calling her normal OB/GYN in for Emergency Surgery. So off we went to the Operating Room!!! A few nerve-racking hours later, the doctor finally came out of surgery to give me an update. You should have seen the look on his face! It was priceless. After reassuring me that the surgery went well, and that she was in recovery, he got on to the good stuff! LOL. He said they had successfully removed the Ovary, but it was larger than expected. He had originally made a vertical incision that was 9 inches long, but the Ovary was so big, he had to cut around her belly button and up 4 inches more just to get it out.

In total, it was 11 POUNDS, larger than a VOLLEYBALL, and was holding 4.5 pints of blood. Crazy, right???

So, like me, you're probably wondering how in the world something like that happens. Well, as the Doctor explained it, this is what happened.... The technical term is "Ovarion Torsion". Basically, the Ovary twisted inside the body, which cut one part of it's blood supply. The main artery that feeds the Ovary was still open and pumping blood into the Ovary, but the smaller vein that carries blood away and circulates through the body was the one that was blocked. So once it got twisted, the ovary / tumor just kept filling with blood, and none of it was allowed to escape. Hence the 4.5 pints of blood inside the mass! (And the reason she has been anemic for the past year). After all of the drama in the ER/OR, she was confined to the hospital for 4 days, and then finally free to go home (minus the 11 lb baby she delivered via C-Section - LOL).

Now it's been over a week, and aside from the pain from the incision and trying to heal up, she says that she feels better than she has in over a year! She's gotten her belly back to normal (8 months pregnant no more!), and is starting to get her energy back. I guess after carrying around an 11 lb tumor and being horribly anemic for that long, there was a darn good reason for the fatigue!

On Thursday (Aug 7th), Mom had her follow-up Doctor visit. He took out 25 of the 45 staples in her belly and referred her to see an OBGYN Oncologist to rule out any Ovarian Cancer. But there was some good news! In one week, she has lost 32 lbs and 10 inches off of her waist! Unbelievable, right?? LOL. It isn't the best diet plan in the world, but if there's a silver lining in all of this, that would have to be it!


After a scary 911 call, delivering an 11 lb tumor via C-Section, and losing 32 lbs in one week... I'd say we've had enough drama for a while!!!

For your enjoyment... I've posted pictures of the tumor below. Stats: 11 lbs, 4.5 pints of blood, larger than a Volleyball, and a new record for Dr. Smith!!

P.S. That white circle on the edge of the tumor is the original Ovary! The rest is a tumor and it is completely filled with blood (kind of like water balloon... the disgusting kind. LOL)